Monday Thoughts

After watching Connor Blumrick's film, consider me intrigued. I can see what Noel Mazzone likes, but I think that he's a long way from a finished product.

First, the things I liked. This guy obviously has a huge arm. He was chucking it 50 yards downfield and it didn't look like he was trying hard. He's got much better mobility than I would have expected and he throws very well on the run. All big plusses. And I have no doubt he's not going to shy away from competition, because if you're willing to put your head into a defensive tackle's chest to cross the goal line, another guy throwing a ball isn't going to faze you.

Now, the things that were less than stellar. First, I'm not thrilled with the throwing motion. It seems like he's pushing the ball and doesn't have the motion every time. A caveat -- I did think his motion got a lot better as the tape went on. He started squaring up his shoulders, getting his arm higher and really fired a couple of ropes. But he's got to do that consistently. If he stops opening up too early, especially on his deep passes, he's going to throw the ball a looooong way. He's also got to make sure his footwork is consistent and he's got to stop staring down receivers. The last one may be the toughest of the bunch -- a short 5-star couldn't do that at all last year.

A&M is taking two quarterbacks in this class. That's obvious and Blumrick confirmed it to Rob. He's probably the one who's less of a finished product, but he's got a big upside. I like the pickup and am eager to see where he is in a couple of years.

College of San Mateo DT Ratu Mafileo committed to the Aggies last night and should help fill an ongoing need -- depth at the tackle slot -- pretty well. Taking a look at his film, his appeal is pretty basic. He's not explosive and doesn't have breathtaking speed or explosion. He's just so strong that he can't be moved. Single team, double team, whatever, he's playing at or slightly behind the line of scrimmage on every play. He's between 280 and 285 pounds now, so A&M will likely try to get him closer to 300 when he arrives.

Or if he arrives.

Our folks out west say he's not fully qualified yet and needs at least one class this summer at JUCO to meet the course requirements needed to get into A&M (or any other SEC school). So that means that he won't be here in May 29 with everyone else. It means that he'll be more like Jonathan Mathis and show up later in the summer.

He also hasn't signed anything yet, so if he wants to keep looking at other schools, all A&M has is a verbal commitment until later in the summer. Now that he's close to being fully qualified, expect other programs to come after him too, so A&M will have to keep recruiting him hard.

So let's say Mafileo does, indeed, end up in College Station later this summer. Then A&M has some options with their DT rotation. Mafileo will probably be fighting to join the top 6 guys in the rotation, with Daylon Mack and either Kingsley Keke or Zaycoven Henderson on the first team, Keke or Henderson with Hardreck Walker on the second team and Mafileo and either Reggie Chevis or TD Moton with the third team.

Chevis had a good spring, so he is a legit possibility with the 3s. Mafileo, with his extra year of experience, fits in well with the young but pretty experienced group. If Chevis is ready, then Moton can redshirt. It also allows the Aggies to be flexible with the guy who, for my money, was their best signee this past season -- Justin Madubuike. He as supposed to grow into a DT, but this could mean he ends up as a larger defensive end and could play this year. It's really an interesting situation... if it all works out.

One of the gripes about the recent A&M teams is that they've been young and inexperienced. I don't necessarily think that will apply to this year's team, except maybe on the offensive line. Take a look at this potential two-deep:

QB: Trevor Knight (RS-Sr.), Jake Hubenak (RS-Jr.)

RB: James White (RS-Jr.), Keith Ford (RS-Jr.)

WR: Speedy Noil (Jr.), Jeremy Tabuyo (SR.)

WR: Christian Kirk (Soph.), Boone Niederhofer (RS-Sr.)

WR: Ricky Seals-Jones (RS-Jr.), Frank Iheanacho (RS-Soph.)

WR: Josh Reynolds (Sr.), Edward Pope (RS-Sr.)

LT: Avery Gennesy (RS-Sr.), Koda Martin (RS-Soph.)

LG: Connor Lanfear (Soph.), Keaton Sutherland (Soph.)

C: Erik McCoy (RS-Fr.), TBD

RG: Jermaine Eluemunor (RS-Sr.), Tank Davis (RS-Soph.)

RT: Koda Martin (RS-Soph.), Trevor Elbert (RS-Fr.)

DE: Myles Garrett (Jr.), Qualen Cunningham (Jr.)

DT: Zaycoven Henderson (Jr.), Hardreck Walker (Sr.)

DT: Daylon Mack (Soph.), Kingsley Keke (Soph.)

DE: Daeshon Hall (Sr.), Jarrett Johnson (Jr.)

OLB: Shaan Washington (Sr.), Dwaine Thomas (Soph.)

MLB: Otaro Alaka (RS-Soph.), Claude George (RS-Sr.)

OLB: Richard Moore (Soph.), TBD

Nickel: Donovan Wilson (Jr.), Noel Ellis (RS-Jr.)

CB: Priest Willis (RS-Soph.), Roney Elam (RS-Fr.)

CB: Nick Harvey (Jr.), Deshawn Capers-Smith (RS-Fr.)

FS: Armani Watts (Jr.), Justin Dunning (Soph.)

SS: Justin Evans (RS-Sr.), Larry Pryor (RS-Fr.)

No true freshmen starting and very few freshmen at all in the two-deep. This is an experienced ballclub.

One of the more overlooked signees for 2016 was Frankston WR Kendrick Rogers. He's 6'6", just about, and can jump out of the gym. But, since he wasn't at a big school, he didn't draw that much attention. He still isn't, but that's ok.

I was talking to someone who has a lot of ties over in East Texas this morning and he asked if I had heard what Rogers ran in the 200 meters. I said no. He informed me that he ran a 200 in just over 21 seconds a few weeks ago. In other words, the kid can fly. As you can see from the depth chart above, A&M will need some guys to step up next fall. If Rogers can catch the ball, he's going to be matchup hell starting THIS fall.

The Aggies ended up 3rd in the SEC regular season standings after losing 3-2 to Ole Miss this weekend. But they took the series against the nation's #6 team, and that was enough to vault them to #1 in the country going into the postseason.

The Aggies have a national seed on lock. They've got the SEC's MVP in Boomer White and death in the bullpen in Mark Ecker. But the problem they have is finding one more consistent starting pitcher to go with Kyle Simonds and Brigham Hill.

The Aggies have looked left and right for consistent starting pitching this season, and Hill solidified Friday night when he moved into the rotation. Finding someone for Saturday, though? That's been the ongoing problem. They went with explosive sophomore Turner Larkins against Ole Miss and he didn't make it out of the second inning. Senior Andrew Vinson came in and pitched 5 innings of 1-hit ball and struck out 8 to save the day, and maybe he gets that job as the #2 guy. But he hasn't started a game all year. But if he can go 5 innings in tournament play, that should be enough for the Aggies to be in good shape.

If it's not Vinson, I don't know who it is. Maybe they give Larkins another shot. But all I know is that if Omaha (and winning once there) is the goal, another starter has to step up pronto.